Rail Trail Gate Will Cost Homeowner $250

Upper Saucon Township Supervisors all but approved a request from a homeowner to install a gate where the rear of his property will meet the expanding Saucon Rail Trail.

James Orlando of 6345 New St. made the request to be able to access the trail from his back yard and has agreed to pay the $250 in additional costs to replace a portion of the fence along his back yard with a gate, said Township Manager Thomas F. Beil.

Orlando’s property sits along Phase 2 of the trail, for which supervisors last month hired South Whitehall Township contractor Semmel Excavating to complete this year for $464,000.

During Phase 1 of the project, some property owners asked for similar consideration, Beil said. In those cases, the township accommodated them by leaving a gap in the fence to allow property owners to install their own gates.

However, leaving a gap in Orlando’s fence would not be a good idea because there is a steep drop from the trail into his back yard, Beil said.

In fact, the drop is so steep, there is actually a staircase that leads from the Orlando back yard to the old SEPTA railroad bed that is now being converted to a hiking and biking path.

“This is a unique circumstance,” Beil said during the supervisors meeting April 8. “Here, if we leave a gap in the fence, there is a real safety hazard.”

The stretch of trail that runs parallel to New Street is unique in other ways. Portions of the trail are so close to homes that trail development plans call for a 7-foot-tall shadowbox fence instead of the split rail fence that lines most of the trail, to provide more privacy for the affected residents, Beil said.

Supervisors appeared to view the proposal favorably, but still wanted to have a formal legal agreement drawn up to be signed by the property owner. Solicitor Jeffery R. Dimmich was instructed to draw up the agreement, which will likely be considered at a subsequent supervisors meeting.